NASCAR WCUP: Ince Looking Forward to Thursday's Restrictor Plate Round Table

DETROIT, Oct. 31, 2001 - During Sunday's pre-race driver and crew chief
meeting at Phoenix International Raceway, NASCAR officials announced a
meeting would take place Thursday morning at Joe Gibbs Racing in
Huntersville, N.C., in which ideas for improving the aerodynamic package for
the superspeedways would be discussed.
Drivers, crew chiefs and car owners have been invited to attend the meeting,
which NASCAR describes as a "brain-storming" session.
One of the crew chiefs in attendance on Thursday will be James Ince, who
calls the shots on the No. 10 Pontiac Grand Prix, driven by Johnny Benson.
Ince is looking forward to the gathering and is hopeful that the long-term
results will be positive.


Thoughts from James Ince, Crew Chief, No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac Grand Prix

(ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THURSDAY'S MEETING?)  "I'm excited that there is a
round-table discussion set up.  I think that is pretty important for the
situation we've got.  I don't think that we would want this on a normal,
weekly deal. But with Daytona and Talladega, we've all got a problem and we'
re in it together, so I think it's really good that NASCAR is involving the
race teams to try to figure it out.
"Going in there, I don't know what to expect.  It's like you've got to go
see what they're thinking before you know what you think and kind of go from
there.
"I just think it's a real positive thing that everybody is going to work
together and try to figure it out."
(DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS AT THIS POINT?)  "It's more complicated than that.  I
don't think there is an easy solution or an easy fix.  We're racing on 1960'
s racetracks and that's a problem. They're a big part of our history and a
big part of our sport, but those tracks are dated for the speeds that we can
run now.  They were fine in 1975, but that creates a major, major problem.
"I don't think there is any easy fix.  When we did the test with NASCAR
before Talladega, there was no clear solution there.  We tried several
different things and there was really no clear, defined answer as to what is
going on there.
"I think the problem we've outdated the racetracks and the cars - you can go
back and say, 'Five years ago we didn't race in a group.'  But, five years
ago you only had to beat five cars anywhere.  The whole garage area has
gotten so competitive that I'm not sure that you're not going to have to
race in a pack regardless what the rules are."
(ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT TOMORROW'S MEETING REMAINING A CONSTRUCTIVE
SESSION?)  "It needs to stay on a positive.  It's not a bashing thing. I don
't think NASCAR has a hidden agenda or a motive that they've had the whole
time.  They want to fix the problem just as bad as everybody else does.
"Anybody that is going in there with the intent to bash probably doesn't
need to come."